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Working Together to Make a Difference

UK Charity No 1131517

“It’s not what you eat it’s what you absorb that ‘s important”

Carbohydrates  (Carbon + Water) - the most abundant organic compounds found in nature. They are produced by green plants and by bacteria using the process known as photosynthesis - Latin words for light and putting together, in which carbon dioxide is taken from the air by means of solar energy to yield the carbohydrates as well as all the other chemicals needed by the organisms to survive and grow.

The carbohydrate group consists principally of sugar, starch, dextrin, cellulose, and glycogen, substances that constitute an important part of the human diet and that of many animals.

 

There are three types of carbohydrates:

• Simple carbohydrates.
• Complex carbohydrates.
• Dietary Fibre.

 

All three types are composed of units of sugar.

• Simple carbohydrates - have one or two units of sugar. One unit is known as a simple sugar or a monosaccharide - mono (one) - saccharide (sugar).Two units is known as a double sugar or a disaccaride - di (two) - saccharide (sugar).
• Complex carbohydrates - have more than two units of sugar linked together. These are also known as polysaccharides - poly (many) - saccharides (sugars).
• Dietary Fibre - sometimes known as roughage - is unlike other carbohydrates. Dietary fibre consists of non-digestible carbohydrates and lignin that are intrinsic and intact in plants. This includes plant non-starch polysaccharides - e.g. cellulose, pectin, gums, hemicellulose, and fibres contained in oat and wheat bran, oligosaccharides, lignin, and some resistant starch.

Digestive enzymes are unable to break the bonds that hold the sugar units in dietary fibre together, however bacteria in the intestines is capable of converting a small amount of dietary fibre to fatty acids.

 

Dietary Fibre is classified as:

 

• Soluble fibre - dissolves in water to form a gel-like substance.
• Insoluble fibre - increases the movement of material through your digestive tract and increases your stool bulk. This promotes regularity.
• Resistant starch - is considered to be a third type of dietary fibre. [1]. Resistant starch may be used as a fuel for health promoting bacteria, as such resistant starch acts as a prebiotic which benefits bowel health.

 

Resistant starch consumption is associated with:

• Lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
• Promotion of "good" bacteria.
• Suppression of "bad" bacteria and their toxic products.
• Promotion of bowel regularity.
• In a meal it is associated with less fat storage after that meal.

 

Resistant starch is especially associated with one type of short chain fatty acid, called butyrate, which is protective of colon cells and associated with less genetic damage. Short chain fatty acids are the colon cell's main energy source. Butyrate is the most important one. Butyrate has been shown to increase wound healing and to reduce inflammation in the small intestine. It is thought that butyrate induces enzymes to promote healing of the intestinal lining  

Resistant starch is associated with more mineral absorption, especially calcium and magnesium.

 

The body runs on glucose as its main energy source which is provided by digestible carbohydrates from foodstuffs. As carbohydrates are broken down by the body and absorbed into the blood stream as glucose (blood sugar) the level of Insulin rises. Insulin encourages receptors in the muscle cells to open up and allow the glucose to enter. Once glucose enters the muscle cell it is either metabolised to supply energy or converted to glycogen by special enzymes and stored until it is required for energy use.

 

Most carbohydrate intake should be in the form of complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates, with few exceptions, break down slowly supplying a steady source of energy this lessens the spikes in insulin use.

Energy comes from muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrates) and glucose, circulating in the blood stream.

 

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Ref.

1.Asp NG. Resistant starch. Proceedings from the second plenary meeting of EURESTA: European FLAIR Concerted Action No. 11 on physiological implications of the consumption of resistant starch in man. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1992;46 (Suppl 2):S1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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